WEST BRIDGEWATER – What street did you grow up on?What is your favorite sports team?

What is your mother’s maiden name?

No, these aren’t survey questions. These are some of the many questions asked when someone is trying to retrieve their lost or forgotten password from an online account.

For nearly 20 West Bridgewater women, the answers to these questions may have given one man easy access to their social media, email and other online accounts in recent weeks, without their knowledge.

West Bridgewater Police Detective Jonathan Craven said a man may be facing charges of unauthorized access to a computer system after he allegedly accessed 19 womens’ online accounts by successfully answering their security questions and creating a new password himself.

“A victim in town had come forward (June 15) and said she had noticed some activity on her Facebook account and couldn’t get in,” Craven said. “We did some checking and we found a suspect in town and interviewed him.”

The women ranged from ages 16-32 who were all either living in or at one time lived in West Bridgewater. Craven said it was relatively easy for the suspect to answer the security questions because West Bridgewater is a small town.

“If you grew up in town it’s going to be fairly easy to find out what street you grew up on. And your favorite sports team is either the Patriots or the Red Sox,” Craven said. “If you get two out of those three questions, you’re in.”

Craven said the suspect, who has not yet been charged, was storing the womens’ photos and contact information on his computer.

He said it was unclear what the man was using the material and information for.

“He was not distributing them. He was just storing them,” Craven said.

The investigation is expected to wrap up by the end of next week, at which time the man may be charged.

Unauthorized access to a computer system is a misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to 30 days in jail or a fine of up to $1,000.

The man admitted to what he had been doing, Craven said, and has been cooperating with police. Craven did not identify the man, who is in his 20s, because he has not yet been charged with a crime.

Craven posted the information about the investigation on the department’s own Facebook page and warned residents to strengthen the answers of their security questions to something only they would know.

“We felt it was important that people knew because there were so many victims,” he said.

Benjamin Paulin may be reached at bpaulin@enterprisenews.com.

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